My in-progress pictures of the first two projects of Fab 2 didn’t turn out, and I haven’t taken pictures of the finished results (such as they are.) For now, I’ll just mention them: the first project was a twisted wire ring of silver and copper, designed to be seamless (tricky, since you have to exactly match the twists where you cut), with both wires soldered shut (tricky, since the metals solder at different temperatures.) The second was a carved ring, starting from a square cast silver ring, which was divided into quarters and carved (filed) into a half-dome section, a fully round section, and a twisted pattern section.

Mostly I was occupied with the third project, which took about half the class hours to construct. Submitted for your approval: the Toggle Bracelet.

As hard as it is for me to believe, wearing it, the toggle bracelet started as that large coil of silver wire in the picture. (Yep, everything you are about to see came out of that coil. It’s crazy. Stay with me here.) We started by measuring out and setting aside a portion of wire, in order to construct the toggle clasp part of the bracelet.

We created a toggle bar from wire, attached it to a figure-eight connector made from a pair of smaller jump rings soldered together, and melted two other small jump rings to create a ball for each end of the bar. The loop was created from wire, soldered, and hammered into a round shape, then sawn back open so as to insert the other figure-eight loop that attached it to the bracelet, and solder it shut again. (You solder it shut initially so you can hammer it into a circle, which you couldn’t do if the connector was already on it.)

The rest of the wire, we coiled around a mandrel (steel rod) to form a long spring. This, we carefully sawed through, creating jump rings (or links, or loops.) A LOT of jump rings.

(Guess what a chain bracelet is made of? A WHOLE LOTTA JUMP RINGS, FOLKS.)

Since all the links on the chain needed to be soldered shut, we started by soldering half the jump rings shut. I can now say I can competently pick-solder. (All it means is, instead of laying a chip of solder directly on the seam and heating the piece until it flows, you melt the solder separately, pick up the solder on the point of your soldering pick — a pointed rod that doesn’t solder to anything, in a wooden handle so it doesn’t burn you — heat the piece, and touch the solder to the seam once the temperature is right. It sounds complicated, but it makes soldering jobs like this go very quickly.)

Once this initial batch is done, you start assembly, by taking an open jump ring, stringing two closed rings on, then soldering the open one shut to make chains of three. Then you connect two threes with a ring and make sevens, connect sevens to make fifteens, etc, until you have a finished length of chain. Somewhere in there, you stop and measure the chain against your wrist, and stop at a certain length — in my frenzy to complete the bracelet by the end of the class, I sortof forgot that step, which is why my bracelet is about an inch too long. [sigh]

Anyway, here it is. Hard to take a picture of a bracelet while you’re wearing it…

I’m taking the first two fabrication classes at Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts in San Francisco this week (just finished Fabrication 1 yesterday; starting Fabrication 2 today. I never did talk about the wax carving class I took here last summer; is anyone interested? I suppose posting belatedly is better than not posting at all.)

Although I had some soldering experience, enough that I debated skipping Fab 1, I really learned a ton in the past three days. It went far beyond basic soldering skills; we also learned how to saw, file, sand, buff, and polish. We learned about tools — we made tools. I had no idea how little I understood about metals and hardness. It was quite an experience.

Probably the most complex project we made was a pair of pierced (cut-out), domed earrings in a matched geometric pattern. (Apologies in advance for my crummy phone-camera pictures; it never seems to focus on what I’m photographing.) We started by cleaning two pieces of silver and gluing them together, then gluing on a pattern to cut out. Holes are drilled in the middle of each cut-out, so a saw blade can be strung through and each section can be sawed out. Once the interior cuts are done, the outside is sawed to form a circle. The piece is then filed as a unit, to smooth out the cut-outs and the outside, before the pieces are separated into a matched set.

Once separated, the earrings are domed using a dapping block — a cube with half-round holes in it, of various sizes; you stick the flat piece into the size you want, then use a large peg with a spherical end (a dap) and a mallet to form the domed shape. After this, additional filing is done to the individual earrings, and a lot of sanding to remove any file marks, scratches or pits. Once this is done, the pieces are buffed, earring posts are soldered onto the back, then another trip through the buffer and final polishing is done.

We also made three rings: one in nickel, using round wire; one in silver, using square wire; and one in gold-fill, using half-round wire. In each case, we learned to properly calculate the length of wire needed to accurately size the ring, soldered it appropriately based on what type of metal it was, and clean up the solder joint to form a seamless ring. (Your seamless-ness may vary, though I’m happy enough with them that I’m wearing them all at once. Jewelry class is making me particularly bling-tastic, today.)

Finally, yesterday afternoon, we made a small bezel pendant with an onyx stone, with a soldered jump ring. Although I’ve made many a bezel setting before, I learned a new method of doing it, and this was by far the smallest bezel I’ve made or set.

Here’s the finished pieces!

I know, I know. Twelve weeks of silversmithing lessons, and NO BLOG POST? (I need to write about Gemstone Identification as well; save that for another day.) What can I say? It’s been a busy spring summer year.

I started taking weekly silversmithing classes in Medford at the beginning of May, from Bob Sharp, a local jeweler and lapidary (and fellow Roxy Ann member.) I don’t have any of my own equipment yet, so it gives me a chance to practice the process of making things, with some help and supervision. I’ve made several pieces now, and I definitely think I’m improving, though I have a long way to go.

Mostly what I’ve made are bezel-set gemstone pendants. Nearly everything has been a gift — I like making jewelry for other people, that’s nothing new. My first piece (left) was for my sister’s 25th birthday, and was probably more complicated than I should have attempted, but I think it came out well.

It’s been an interesting few months. Soldering is getting easier, but it can still be mysterious (did I say mysterious? I meant “insanely difficult”.) Sometimes, things don’t go as expected (example at right: partially melted/burnt bezel, top right.) Sometimes the stone isn’t really cut well for setting. Sometimes I file really well, and sometimes I file off part of my fingernail (in a bad way.) Some nights I get a ton done in three hours, and other nights (like this past Thursday), every tool I need to use is malfunctioning, and everything I do takes three times as long as it should.

I have two more weeks of class. At the end of August, my teacher is out of town for two months, so I’m finishing up two more pieces (a bracelet, and a ring), and then I’ll have a break. I’m trying (when I remember to bring my camera) to document the process, so you can see how it starts, what the middle stages look like, and how it comes out as a finished piece. Enjoy the photos!